Pretzelparty

Yanhua had been looking forward to a pleasant day out with Feng. She brought with her an entire picnic basket full of treats. There was no way to express just how much delight swelled up in her when the stallion approached her in the kitchen and asked her out for a special night. He said she needed a vacation and never had a truer statement been said. Even with the aid of exceptional Sous Chef, it could be exhausting keeping the kitchen in perfect working order. Some time off would give said Sous chef a chance to shine on her own and get some needed experience. Even more important: FENG ASKED HER OUT! She pulled out all the stops to make sure she was ready. Fine tuning her guise to make sure it was as lovely as possible and even making sure to clean her true form more thoroughly than before. It was awkward explaining to the guards just why she needed to bring home so much shampoo last night, but she had eight long tails to wash and on a special night out with the stallion who had left such a mark on her life she wasn't about to cut any corners. Every follicle of fur was washed and cleaned, she even put on some nice subdued perfume on her coat to make sure it smelled perfect. With how much she was thinking about Feng in the lead up to the trip she imagined that Feng's ears might have caught fire or he might worry that the gardener's had put those plants back. In the end, Yanhua was ready for the best night of her life. The meeting place was a nice out of the way path a good distance off from the forest, far, far away from prying eyes or listening ears. She could only imagine what sort of things Feng had in mind. Such thoughts quickly brought a flush to her cheeks and got her so flustered that one of her tails slipped out of the illusion as she giggled dreamily. The sound of Hoofsteps brought her out of her imaginary revelry, the dawled up qilin hopping up from the blanket she sat on with a grin. "Feng! So good to ... see... you..." She blinked a moment at the sight of the giant of a mare beside him, "Um. Hello, Rongyu. I didn't know you were coming... is something amiss?"

"Well a place so filled with followers of the harmonious path should only be welcoming to the hopeful and eager." Within reason of course, "You'll find everyone here are quite kind and capable... well perhaps not the chamberlain." the chef gave a little chuckle at the thought of that stuffy qilin barging in to give his thoughts on the new recruit. Yanhua brushed off the thought as soon as she caught the scent of coffee beans. That machine always made a lovely aroma once it kicked into gear, the chef made heavy use of the device on her late nights in the kitchen. It would surely make a lovely cup for bother her beloved Feng and his new protege. "You certainly made a good impression during those games, Feng." She gave a nod, "At least all the events you participated in had some degree of respectability. I Only brought home the gold for cupcake eating and rock climbing."

A basecamp, huh? That would take some thinking. Toboe wasn't terribly sure about this island's geography to advise anyone. Let alone a princess seeking an optimal location to set up shop. Luna walking off to confide in her personal guard would grant her and Nensho a chance to figure out a good spot that could serve as their campsite. Since they had some time previously while waiting for the group to arrive, Nensho and Toboe did do a bit of exploring around the island... though not much to be honest. Only two spots came to mind, "Well, Kaen and I were sniffing around the island earlier and found an old cave deeper in the woods. There's a clearing in past the treeline that would be closer though." She looked over to 'Kaen' with a curious tilt of her head, "Any other spots come to mind?" Nensho was more used to life outside the city than Toboe was so she put a lot of trust in his survival skills. Whatever suggestions he may make she would accept as an option. Whatever her friends response was, before she could respond in turn she noticed Luna making her way back. Luna's offer was intriguing... Any good wolf loved the moon. Getting to see the pony who made it rise in action was an exciting prospect, "I'd love to! We don't get to see this sort of thing everyday. Right, Kaen?"

Toboe hadn't heard details on the target that these foreigners sought, but if the pale blue pony's account was true... well she'd be happy to help capture this sorceress. The very thought of such a pony walking the streets of Polahama and supping on the souls of the herd she saw as hers, It sent her hackles skyrocketing. Still, she kept her calm and nodded in Ice storm's direction, "I'd be happy to help you seek out such a threat ... If there is anything an okami is good at it is the following of magical auras." It was probably something that Taira had shared with this princess: That yokai similar to them are able to literally scent out magic on the wind and even sniff out casters or relics if they've met them before. As Far as the old wolf knew, Okami were only second best compared to that of an Onikuma... Toboe would have considered that foolish, her nose was the best in Neighpon and noone could tell her otherwise. Besides the obvious dangers this pony posed, the possibility of seeing some magical artifacts was a novel experience this wolf couldn't hope to pass up. Such fanciful thoughts had to wait as the princess had further thoughts on the nature of Okami, sadly Toboe was the worst authority on that given how she and Nensho grew up. Speaking of Nensho, her old friend gave Luna an answer that took a bit of pressure off of her. She'd have to thank him later. "My packmate is correct, I'm fairly sure we're both seen more summers than the rest of your entourage."

Yanhua was a bit surprised by Feng's decision. She half expected him to at least advice her to keep an eye on her, or take a moment to confront her. This stallion could be so full of surprises. Yanhua gave the stallion a friendly nod as she resumed her chat with the statuesque mare, "I think I have a stein somewhere that might work better for you then a mug, Rongyu. I've been on the receiving end of that breath and by the ancestors does it cling to the muzzle." She wrinkled her nose at the memory: A game of hide and seek in the woods that Feng got a bit too into. Brushing that memory aside, Yanhua moved over to one of the cupboards and began rummaging. After some searching, the chef pulled a large stein that was sure to hold enough coffee for a mare Rongyu's size. She slid it down the counter towards the visiting warrior, "A souvenir from our visit to Equestria."

Presteza's response to the welcome she was given was delayed as she felt a faint tingle in the back of her muzzle. It was the sort that was only momentarily distracting but it faded soon enough after that the only hint she was bothered was a faint twitch of her freckled muzzle. As soon as her nose had calmed she put on a smile, "You're too kind, Mrs. Rich. I have to say sometimes with all that happens here moving here can be quite intimidating. One time when I was just visiting I was turned into a filly again for an entire day..." While the ceremony continued around the two mares Presteza could feel her nose acting up again. Her eyes were starting to get watery too. What on earth could be bothering her so much? She'd taken her allergy treatment this morning: while it never worked one hundred percent she could normally go about the day without worrying about something random setting her off and causing some magical chaos. Now here she was at two of her friends' wedding with her snout threatening to unleash havoc. Spoiled Rich's question managed to give her at least a momentary distraction from the olfactory torment. She sniffled softly before she replied, drawing a fragrant floral scent into her nostrils. Her horn lit up and she fished a hoofkerchief from her bag and spoke through it, "I actually know ah... Ngh... All of them. Dunnie I met through other friends and crusader I've known since foalhood. Blueblood I've only mehh... Met recently." Another sniffle escaped the unicorn as she continued her battle against her reflexes, "Please excuse my state... Something seems to be setting off my allergies quite fiercely." Right now she had that cloth pressed harshly against her muzzle even as this mysterious floural aroma continued to tease her. As soon as Spoiled lean in to whisper her thoughts to the artist it hit her. In more ways then one. The scent of Spoiled Rich's perfume had been laid on just a tad too thick for Presteza to handle. As soon as the strong sourc eof the scent drew so close, Presteza nose twitched and tensed rapidly behind the kerchief. Before she could even hope to stop herself she felt her jaw go slack and suddenly she pulled in a deep hitching gasp. "Hhheh!" The unicorn's horn began to spark and flare up with magical energies. "HHheh! " Then a brighter shine of magical power. "HAAAH!" Presteza's horn flared up one last time as she she pulled in that last gasp and then her head bobbed as she finally let loose with the sneeze. "WAh-CCHOOO!" The blue aura of magic seemed to explode outward from the painter and spread across the room in a wave. The artist that loud sneeze came from was busy scrubbing her nose through her kerchief to really get out an 'excuse me' or the like, but that was the least of anypony's problem. While the wave of magic hadn't caused any damage it did seem to be causing complications to the ceremony... as now the painter, Miss Rich, and Anyone else within range was beginning to float upwards as gravity seemed to become not so much a law as a suggestion. (I will leave it to the players whether or not they're affected by this magical mishap, This chaotic sneeze was Sponsored by Princeblueblood)

With the grinding of coffee beans hopefully drowning out their conversation, Hanabi added another layer of privacy by lowering her voice to a whisper. "Feng." she began in a more serious tone, "Your recruit is not what she seems. I don't know her motives, or her character, but she isn't dissimilar to myself.Though, much less furry." She glanced back to the giant of a mare grinding coffee beans and sniffling, "If anything escalates I'm happy to lend my aid... You are the expert when it comes to security so however you'd like to approach this I will trust your judgement." She didn't want to keep the conversation going too long, lest they look suspicious. With a bounce in her step she moved back over to Rongyu as she ground away, the scent of coffee beans soon surrounding the air around the new recruit. She peaked over at the grinder with a quizzical tilt of her head, "How goes the grinding?"

Once the boat had made landfall, Toboe noticed the palpable magical forces that were held within it's hull. It was almost overwhelming to her senses, one particular magical signature seemed positively huge. She didn't need to wait long to figure out who it belonged to. The sight of a starry, flowing mane and a regal profile walking down the gangplank made the wolf's jaw drop. Shiroi had mentioned that Princess Luna would be coming along on the mission... frankly, Toboe thought she might have been joking. Yet there she was, the lunar monarch of Equestria and one of the most powerful creatures on the face of the world. 'Note to self, keep any mischief to a minimum.' Thought the Canine as Luna made her approach. Not wanting to appear intimidated, Toboe took a tentative step towards the princess. Her muzzle wrinkled slightly as the scent of her magic seemed to engulf her. Such a dense and powerful magical presence would take getting used to, but Toboe did her best to keep that knee-jerk response from looking derisive. Her eyes flicked back to Nensho behind her: a wolf who always had her back... thank goodness he was here. On some level she wasn't terribly sure what would be the best way to start, so Toboe defaulted to a cordial dip of her head in greeting. "Welcome, Luna of Equestria." She raised herself back up to look over the mare, "I am ... Shiranui of Polohama and I'd hope to be friend rather than a foe. I take it you and your entourage are here to take in the sights? They seem quite the motley crew. " Luna's question about a wolf named Taira was answered with a quizzical tilt of her head. Thankfully, Nensho was there to lend his friend some clarity. Nensho mentioned that name before in the past when he brought up a past journey to the mountains. Apparently, he was some old mountain wolf with a surprisingly large territory... It would be something to look into later. "I'm sorry to say I've not met this 'Taira'. Though I feel my packmate may have met him at some point."

Well, well, well. Now it made sense. It had been years since she run into a yokai like Rongyu. They tended to have a bad reputation in some circles but growing up she'd found such slithery individuals could be quite wise. This specimen however seemed more martial minded if their earlier sparring match with Feng was any indication. Knowing that she'd made him bleed ignited a spark of concern in the chef, but she wasn't going to betray that just yet. It was a tad perplexing to her she hadn't recognized it was another yokai right off the bat. Was her nose on the blink? Maybe her excuse about the garden held more truth than she thought. Dwelling on such things would have to wait as Feng voiced his concerns over that sniffing incident earlier. A blush crept on her face before she even realized it. She cleared her throat before hefting the coffee beans to a grinder in the corner. She pulled in a breath through her nose and exhaled a minty green cloud from her lips. Thankfully for Rongyu it only had a minty coloration and not a matching scent. The cloud the chef made would open up the beans and unleash the scent, one that Yanhua took a moment to enjoy before looking over to Rongyu. "Well," She began as she gestured to the bean grinder, "Since your nose is so ready to indulge in the scent of coffee beans, care to take a chance at grinding them? You'll probably make shorter work of them than I could, Miss Rongyu." If Rongyu accepted that offer she'd move over to nonchalantly speak to Feng.

SHe grimaced at the sight of that bandaged limb. It always concerned her when she saw Feng was injured. She knew he had become one of the toughest stallions in all of Long Guo, but some part of her still worried about him. Her head turned her head towards the new recruit and looked her over. By the ancestors, Was she tall! No wonder she was a candidate, she looked like the sort who could take care of a battalion on her own. The only thing diminishing the air of intimidation that came with her stature was all the sniffling and wiggling her nose was doing. Yanhua could detect the faintest hint of mint on the air and in seconds she'd put two and two together. "Hit her with the mint distraction breath, did you?" She gave Feng a Wry smile before gently patting Rongyu's shoulder, "Don't worry, Miss Rongyu I'll start brewing something to clear those sinuses... and as a word of warning, try to avoid that talk of eating my favorite guard: Only the empress or myself can have a bit of this troublemaker." The chef let out another laugh but then paused, for a moment it seemed as though she had completely frozen in place. Her nose gave a twitch and she leaned forward towards the new recruits. Through the clatter and clangs of the kitchen atmosphere Rongyu might have heard the faintly audible sniffing of the chef. For a moment, her nigh perpetually closed eyes opened as her brow raised. Her green eyes did a once over the aspiring guard before she took one more whiff and then shut her eyes to the slits they were most used to being. "Hm... " She cleared her throat and brushed a fetlock to her muzzle, "We happen to have a few grounds in the room I was resting in. I just started making some dumplings before you came by, putting on some coffee won't be much fuss. Come along then!" With a seemingly knowing smile she sauntered along back to the backroom with the couple in tow. Once the two were in there was a click as the door behind them locked, Yanhua across the room looking through the cabinets and soon pulling a sack of beans from their depths.

Bevel couldn't help but giggle at the exchange between Dunnie and Fire. Sadly, she couldn't think of much to contribute. In Talonopolis she had often worked to be a model student despite the culture (and species) clash she often had to go through. Keeping out of the principal's office was on the top of her priorities back then, Though now with the pep back in her step she couldn't help but think such feelings were silly. It was almost as silly as seeing Dunnie walk into the door with a thud. The inventor let out an undignified snort in an attempt to stifle her reflexive laugh. It became harder to restrain as her friend began what seemed to be a one woman assault on the entryway in her attempts to get the door open. "Er, I think blasting might be a bit much." She walked up to the door and looked at the knob, "They had things like this in Talonopolis. Behold!" Bevel puffed out her chest and extended her arm, spreading out those weird things on the end: The digits. Then grasped the knob and turned, producing a clicking sound before pushing the door in and leaving the way open for her friends. She spread out her arms and grinned, "Ta-da!"

Rain. If there was anything in the wide world that got on the palace chef's nerves, it was rain. It stirred up all sorts of stuff when it fell and made everything wet and soggy. Her dislike of this sort of climate had been a characteristic since she was a kit, but her time in the sacred forest so long ago had soured her so much that just looking at the stuff outside the kitchen window put her in a bad mood. Rainy days were days when Feng wasn't able to come as often as a colt, no partner to play with, noone to talk to, just her and the dark, cold wilderness for sometimes days. Besides the crippling loneliness of those times, Rain always messed with her sense of smell. It didn't dampen the many scents in the environment, no, it magnified and mixed them until it was the olfactory equivalent of looking at a bad watercolor painting. What made that most frustrating was that since she woke up and made her way to the kitchen, she had noticed a curious scent. Normally she could place what sort of thing might be making it, but with the great blend of scents it was simply lingering in the background while Hanabi's instincts told her to investigate. While she tried to place the foreign scent in the palace it was starting to concern the staff in the kitchen. Apparently she had been sniffing at the air every few minutes and the kitchen crew were worried she could be coming down with a summer cold. She waved off their concerns, just saying some flower in the garden must have been bothering her, and she'd be fine after some tea. They urged her to take some time off anyway, as she'd been working harder than usual to handle a banquet last week. Despite her best efforts the consequences of a massive endeavor left a mark of exhaustion on her. In the end she reached a compromise: She'd stick to the background while they took care of the workload and they'd call her in the event of an emergency. She could rest in one of unused kitchen rooms and recover her energy. So she did. She kept herself amused by organizing pots and pans and deciding to cook some simple snack. A bag of the various ingredients were set up on the counter. As per usual the qilin leaned over them and took a whiff. At first they smelled fine, but then she caught wind of that mystery smell again. What In Long guo was it? This would drive her mad if she didn't figure it out in time, but soon another smell entered her mind: One that instinctively brought a smile to her face. She made her way to the door just as the pair entered the kitchens where one of her assistants pointed them to the room she was relaxing in. "Feng!" She called out and waved over to him, "Already eager for a snack are you?"

Toboe was never one to forget a favor. A certain pony in the cabinet had recently gotten into her good graces and even provided her some very precious info. Shiroi had written this old (relatively) wolf to assist on a matter of neighponese security. It was pretty hush-hush evidently, and it was some sort of multi-empire effort to root out threats to the world as a whole. While Toboe was still a career criminal, She was not some black-hearted villain bent of world domination or destruction. Why would she ever wish such a thing? This world is where she kept all her things! No, She was more than happy to assist such a well intentioned endeavor. There was only one issue that she had to decide how to deal with: that of her identity. If any of them had a cursory knowledge of Polohama's yakuza clans they'd surely recognize her public face. Having a group of international do-gooders on her tail wasn't something she wanted when she had finally retired as the clan's head. Soon enough the solution came to her. Why not approach them without any illusory antics? Shiroi mentioned that the group was aware of this islands history and how yokai sightings could be quite common. She could get a chance to stretch her paws again without having them shifted to hooves. If anything it would be a pleasant change of pace. She took a boat to the island and waited by the shoreline. Keeping herself occupied until the group arrived proved the biggest challenge. It wasn't the most lively Island that she found herself on. Whatever they were hoping to find here, Toboe hoped she'd not wasted her time making her way out here. Just as her longing to return to the city, she caught a glimpse of the airship approaching over the Horizon. It was too late to go back now. The ethereal wolf moved to the forest's edge by the shoreline, lying in wait and observing the group as they disembarked. She didn't bother to hide herself too much when she found some coverage. It was best they see her watching at least, hopefully mistaking her for one of the locals.

Bevel had to appreciate how much Rose was bringing to the table, both figuratively and literally. For an alchemist she had to be pretty sturdy to be carrying those saddlebags full of doohickeys and doodads. Rose would feel her hoof taken and given a vigorous and enthusiastic shake. The kinetic energy produced by the peppy inventor making the flasks and baubles jingle lightly in the bags on her back, "I certainly have! I've prepares a few prototype devices that could take us to some very interesting places, in the end though I'll need to see some of your notes to see what might work best with what." Keeping her pace slow, the inventor's eyes fell onto her other guest: Solar Flare. A hint of nervousness overtook her as she realized how badly optimized her vessel was for someone visually impaired. Hopefully this day would lead to something that could make miss Flare's life a little bit easier. If anything, Bevel was happy to see that she'd brought a sweet avian companion to guide her. There weren't many ponies she'd heard of with Seeing eye birds, but she'd take this over a canine option: Wouldn't do well to try and conduct business with her nose rebelling against her. "Welcome to my vessel, The 'wandering zephyr'!" She said with a little hop in place as her hoof gestured to the innards of the ship, "She has two guest rooms, though I probably need to dust them, and a room for experimentation and testing on the lower levels. Can I get either of you soemthing to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water? Coffee? Milk? Orange juice? Coffee?"

As Fire's father's odd noisy carriage pulled off, the frizzy haired scientist could be seen standing at the path as it drove away. Her lungs pushed out a series of harsh coughs as the faint smoke of exhaust carried over her and then dissipated. "Such amazing advancements... *cough* there's so many amazing constructs in this world!" Bevel was practically drooling over the various other metallic carriages that made their way down the road, "Can you imagine what life would be like back home with things like this?" Making her way back over to her friends she did a small spin in place as she took in her surroundings with an excited twinkle in her eye. Already she was trying to figure how another portal might be replicated. If anything she needed to get at least a couple books from this plain of existence. That needed to wait, though. Demons and all that. Seeing Both Dunnie and Fire looking like they had a better idea of where to go, Bevel just followed their lead. As they made their way to the front door it was hard not to notice some of the lingering weird looks they were getting. Thankfully they seemed to be diminishing slowly as the rest of the student body returned to their own business and gossip.

Today was the day! Time to brainstorm… and with new friends! Bevel certainly hoped that offering to have them meet up in her personal airship was too intimidating. Not many visitors to this town tended to appear in such an impressive vehicle after all. Especially not one of such fine aquellian design. The Zephyr had been in her care for so long and after looking over the place with fresh eyes… it was kinda of a mess: especially her office. That wasn’t even tackling the subject of her bedroom. Most of her day before was spent frantically cleaning up the place for visitors as best as she could manage. Tidying up any random gadgets left strewn about, any unusual logs, magazines, none would be spared from the cleaning frenzy. Things that couldn’t be disposed of would be shoved into a closet and sealed up behind a tough lock in her sleeping quarters. For the time being she had ‘parked’ her airship on the outskirts of ponyville. It was hard to miss, there weren’t many airships that lingered out here. A gangplank had been extended and a certain brown unicorn was left tapping her hoof on the end of it while she eagerly awaited her potential business partners.

Judging by the various looks they were getting, Bevel was starting to get concerned. That wasn't to say she wasn't curious about the lengths of their abrupt transfiguration too, but there was a time and a place for examination and in the middle of a busy... schoolyard wasn't it. Luckily, Bevel was saved from having to drag her friends to some alleyway and figure out what was going on by a loud and authoritative voice. That voice belonged to someone important enough that both Dunnie and Fire straightened out to address him. She could only barely make out the squeaked response from Fire, but it gave her all that she needed to know: this was her dad! or at least a version of him. "Absolutely fascinating..." She muttered to herself before taking a parade stance for the military man, "Uhh... Oui~" She gave a hesitant little nod before finding her confidence. If there was another Bevel in this dimension, solving this interdimensional conundrum would be a peace of cake with double the brainpower of one of the world's brightest minds. Demonic phenomena though? That was a bit new for Bevel to tackle. The only demons she'd heard of was that Tirek guy/thing/being that attacked Equestria a while ago. If there was one here it would be quite a thing to get a look at...

---Presteza--- It was only beginning to dawn on the painter just how long it truly had been since she'd been in such a large crowd of ponies. So many talking and sharing stories, yet she couldn't help but feel she came up short on conversational topics. It didn't help that she didn't have a plus one to save her from any awkward situations... If only Java were here. The painter was jarred from her thoughts when she noticed a mare approaching her. She seemed the sort of mare that she'd run across many a time in her foal hood in some way: a natural born socialite. Presteza's foalhood was full of galas and social functions where she had to wear fancy clothes and be shown off to her mother's friends. At this point in her life though, Presteza had learned not to judge a book by their cover. The hat wearing unicorn crackked a smile and shook, "Good Day, you're... " Presteza wracked her brain a moment before she was able to place the face, "Oh! You're Spoiled Rich. I've seen you in a few magazines with your husband." She wasn't going to mention it, but what served as Spoiled's most identifying trait for this painter was her muzzle. Presteza had a soft spot for unique individuals and ponies with interesting faces. "It's good to meet you." ---Bevel Gear--- A big grin spread across Bevel's muzzle once she heard Rose's occupation. Alchemy was an incredible field, back where she was studying she'd hoped to take more time looking into that but her skills had lied in magitechnical engineering. The tone in this new pony's voice was starting to light an inspiration fire in the prench unicorns belly, "I think I hear some promise in your voice, Mademoiselle Compass. Care to elaborate?"

This wedding only got better and better. Her favorite mischievous spirit was here, her invention was still working for Dunnie, and they had coffee! Instant coffee, but coffee nonetheless. "Oh I'm sure he's not bothered by it! It was an appropriately chaotic greeting!" She said with a cheery smile before the noodle popped out of existence and then back into it, "Maybe I was mistaken though." Then she fell to ground on her plot, gravity reasserting itself on her person. It was then that she noticed something strange: someone spoke to her! That in and of itself wasn't new. She'd been spoken to many a time before, but not often by someone she couldn't see. The inventor tilted her head and shook it about before clearing her throat and looking to Discord as his tail pointed to his date. She had heard many a thing about Fluttershy. Most of those things came from the mouth of her date of the evening. Discord spoke often about her and of all the animals she took such good care of. Animals were never Bevels field of expertise, or even a notable interest, but it was still fascinating to hear how the mare managed to curtail even bears and the like. The inventor bowed her head with a peppy grin, "Enchante, Mademoiselle Fluttershy! Discord has spoken very highly of you... and I do much more than make Fighting Robots. In fact, that is only a recent project." Bevel was an eccentric mare prone to getting lost in her own little world, so she missed the entrance of a rather fabulous looking pony. She looked searchingly at the mare a moment, "Are you a ventroliquist? That was very impressive... and did you say you had a proposition? I'm always looking for new projects, what do you have in mind?" At Squall's question, Bevel gave a simple nod. She was getting so busy lately... fortunately she had an idea that would let her substantially increase her workload later, but that will require a lot of paperwork and permissions to a certain site near Ponyville. "Monsiuer Squall, I'm not ready to take the reins just yet, but I shall be soon!" [For the time Being Presteza will fade into the background unless called on.]

Bevel was simply inspecting the area further while Fire and Dunnie talked over things. There weren't any people with wings flying in the air... there were some things up in the sky but they sure didn't look human. There didn't seem to be much of a magical presence here: Not that bevel could use a spell to sense it. It was more that things somehow seemed a bit drabber in this world. She did eventually realize something weird as Dunnie began to truly take notice of all their changes. Bevel approached and pat the chef's shoulder, "Maybe we should find someplace less exposed to figure out ze situation?"

Presteza was beaming when Fire Walker entered her line of sight. With a surprising bout of speed, Presteza brought fire into a hug. "Fire! It's been so long... where are all those letters you said you'd write?" Before Presteza decided to settle herself down in Ponyville, she had been doing a bit more traveling to see the world. She made sure to keep up with the post office where she could but perhaps all her moving around had resulted in something of a mounting delay between deliveries. Whatever she'd missed in her friend's life she was more than eager to catch up. In her excitement, the painter had barely noticed the presence of the personification of chaos having sauntered his way into the scene. In the moments after she had hugged Fire she paused and looked up and down the long figure of Discord: as if checking to see if he was really there. She had seen him in Ponyville now and again on her walks trhough town, but he was almost always busy with something or somepony and nowadays she wasn't as likely to try and push her way into circumstances just to slake her thirst for novel experiences so she left him to his own devices. At some point in the night she'd need to introduce herself and ask if he would like a portrait done. The words of Wordsworth brought her back to the more pressing matters at hoof. She remembered the friendly stallion from one of the past galas she attended, "It's good to see you as well, Wordsworth. I hope you've been keeping well!" Meanwhile, back by Nilaavin Bevel was getting a few magical readings off the mysterious sphinx. She'd heard so many stories of these beings and to think the prince had managed to get in the good graces of one. It was utterly fascinating! But soon her aetheric resonance detected caught the signal of a massive signature of magic... a very familiar one. Those golen eyes narrowed as it donned on her who it was. Nonchalantly she got back up from her seat and made her way off to the nook where quite a few ponies seemed to be congregating. Her readings were spiking massively with each step until she finally saw the noodly presence among the crowd. A devious smile spread across her muzzle. The inventor braced herself, took a deep breath, and charged into a gallop that transitioned into a running leap. A blur of earthy tones collided with the spirit of Chaos and soon the inventor was clinging onto the spirit and had him in a big hug, "Monsieur Discord!" She chirped with glee as she clung to the noodly spirit, "It's been far too long! Why haven't you come to visit in Talonopolis lately? You didn't forget about the world's greatest inventor did you?!" The elated mechanist only paused in her sudden shower of affection to look down to the familiar face of Squall, "Oh! Bonjour to you as well, Monsieur Squall. I'd hoped to run into you and tell you that the latest blueprints are already finished and production is set to begin as soon as you are ready." She wouldn't bother with context since she was sure that the stallion knew what she meant. With Dunnie's entrance, Bevel calmed down a little and simply held onto Discord's side as if she were a sapient backpack. "I wouldn't miss it for all the Coffee in Coltlumbia, Mon amie!" She offered her hoof to bump against Dunnie's own and then grinned to behold the ceremony on her chosen perch: Discord.

It was so nice to be back in Ponyville again. This was such a lovely town and it was full of such colorful individuals. What made Presteza's current visit even more enjoyable was how things seemed to have calmed down. In the past few months, she'd noticed considerably less unusual calamities centering around this town and more just unconventional Hijinks. Hijinks and tomfoolery was exactly the kind of things this artist could get behind. Today, however, it wasn't that sort of silliness that brought her to town, instead it was to attend a wedding of dear friends... three of them to be specific. She'd met Blueblood through her own background and her own Coltfriend. He'd proved a very sweet presence despite his reputation in the past. Now when she heard of the royal, the first thing that came to mind was a excitement. Just hearing about all the friends he'd made and the journeys he had made her feel as if perhaps she'd given up her travels a bit too soon. Dunnie and Star Crusader had been quite busy on their journeys as well from what she'd heard. Dunnie in particular had been up to a lot since she'd last seen her. Entering the hall she noticed another unicorn making her way to the front door though she seemed to have such a bounce in her step that you'd think she was the one getting married today. The Guards let her in though, so Presteza simply held the door for the earthen colored mare as she made her way in. The unicorn let out a reflexive ,"Merci." as she passed by the painter and began looking for a seat. Letting the door close up behind her, Presteza looked over the crowd and blinked a few times. By the sisters, she didn't recognize anypony here. Had it truly been so long since she'd socialized with somepony in town? Wait, there was one familiar face! Swift Squall was here! It'd been so long since she'd spoken to him, He wasn't sitting though, instead he was making his way off to the side towards the changing room. The painter made an eager trot over to the swordstallion, "Swift!" She called out with a nervous smile, "It's wonderful to see you again. 'Ow's Fire been?" Seems the trottingham accent was starting to slip out again. Bevel was excited for so many reasons. She barely noticed the colorful pony who let her in, but managed to get out a thank you just as she was let inside. What had Bevel so excited today wasn't just that a great friend was getting married, but that she'd managed to get the device making her friend's new changes able to work consistently without a need for a counter enchantment link to maintain the aetheric flow! It took about an hour to get that guard to understand why she had to bring her aetheresonance scanner in during the ceremony but, she was positive he understood. When a pony just stares into the middle distance with their eyes glazing over, that was about usually the time when they just nodded in the affirmative about the in depth properties of magitech machinery. Now, that she was in she could get a look around. Her eyes widened when she noticed a sudden spike in thaumaturgical energies in the direction of a big strapping stallion over on the bench talking to a couple other ponies. Rather than burst into the conversation, Bevel sat in an adjacent spot and monitored the magical energies coming off of the large frame of Nilaavin, an expression of sheer awe on her face.

Bevel was flung through what felt like like a whirlwind of magical energies. She was determined to keep her eyes open and try to whip out a device from her mane and get a few readings, but as not seconds after she charged into the mirror she felt her momentum return and she was sent stumbling forward on what seemed to be solid ground.Surprisingly, she met the ground with only two legs and it felt entirely natural. Bevel stumbled forward further and held out her arms as if steadying herself, The inventor wobbling in place as she got her barings and looked over herself. Her eyes widened as she saw how she was... standing! (though she needed to lean forward a little to get a better look past the strenge swells on her chest. On only two hoov-wait, these weren't hooves. She could feel them so much more acutely than with her her hooves... She had a similar feeling in her foreleg--wait those weren't hooves either! "C'est incroyable!" She gasped in wonder as she wiggled these weird feeler things where her hooves would be, "A full body transfiguration and some sort of advanced Teleportation?! This could be revolutionar-- Oh right. Dunnie and Fire." She couldn't let the spark of inspiration sweep her off her newly acquired feet, not when she still needed to figure out where her friends were. Looking around she saw some creatures with colors very similar to Dunnie and Fire. Bevel would move to approach the pair... only to fall flat on her face as the different way of moving began to feel a bit less intuitive. She pulled herself up and brushed some dirt from her face, "Oof... Not the best way to start an adventure..." The scenery was familiar, yet different... She noticed more of these strangely shaped creatures walking around in the distance, dressed in a lot more clothing than ponies normally wore. They looked a little bit like those ape things that she saw in some of those explorer magazines, but they had so much less hair on them. Maybe that was why they had clothes on?